As you learn a new skill, it takes time for the motions, actions, and habits to become natural. The old adage, “practice makes perfect”, helps these skills to feel more natural over time. What if you are doing it wrong to begin with? Practice will simply engrain the wrong approach. Also, many people have blind spots when it comes to their own behavior and actions, leading us to assume we are improving when that may not be true when observed from the outside. This is where coaching is important. Someone who can observe, provide feedback, and offer suggestions for improvement during your practice and execution of the new skill. An external coach, like from our company, is a great start to get the ball rolling, but to truly create an agile workplace and break the dependency on external coaching, a capacity for internal coaching must be developed.
One of the best ways to develop this capacity for internal coaching is by establishing communities of practice around the new skill. Scrum Masters are often the first to start by gathering to discuss challenges, seeking advice, and actively spreading the success stories from day-to-day situations. The next step is to ask a colleague to observe you during various agile events to provide feedback and offer suggestions. This process helps to build trust between peers. Both the observer and observed learn new things and become better Scrum Masters. Scrum Masters are expected to become the team coach and mentor. The Scrum Guide says that the Scrum Master serves the Development Team by “Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality” and “Coaching the Development Team in organizational environments in which Scrum is not yet fully adopted and understood.” So these activities are essential for Scrum Masters to fully adopt their role.
Communities of practice can be formed for Product Owners, Developers, Testers, Leaders, and any other role where feedback can lead to improvement. Actually, is there any role that cannot be improved through feedback?
Many organizations go a step further by creating a full-time permanent position for an internal agile coach. This role provides a focus for the improvement of the organization because the coach’s primary responsibility is to observe, provide feedback, and help people to establish the agile mindset and get the most out of the transformation. This person has the time and energy to do continuing research and bring new ideas into the company to further enhance agility. One company I helped actually created a team of five permanent coaches to help the 200+ teams and leaders to learn to live the agile values and principles.
These moves demonstrate management’s commitment to the transformation. It sends a clear signal that the organization is serious about the change and is willing to invest time and money to make it happen. As people see this commitment, they become willing to try new things, ask for help, and grow. Internal coaching provides that support system for people to experiment and learn all while knowing they have help. It develops internal experts and champions who teach, mentor, and develop others. New leaders emerge with the skills needed for businesses to survive and thrive in the 21st century.
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